VOL . 36 • ISS . 19

You know , this Morning Star Update cries out for a catchy segue . Hmmm ...

“ If you always do what you always did , you ’ ll always get what you always got .” Nope . Too hillbilly . “ Only change is constant .” No , only

2912

hearing this dreary cliche over and over is constant .

“ Today is the first day of the rest of your ... NO ! NO ! NO ! “ Find a job you love and you ’ ll never work a day of your life .” Getting warmer ... “ What if I die before I live ?” Don ’ t think so , this one ’ s hitting a little too close to home ... I ’ ve got it ! With apologies to Heraclitus , let ’ s take it from the top . Greetings friends , The water flows , the river remains ...

After 40 years of “ Reel them up ’” “ Drop them down ,” “ Follow your fish ,” “ No angle , no tangle ,” “ Yes , your fish is small but they ’ re the best eating size ” “ Rocky bottom ,” “ Sandy bottom ,” “ Keep his head up ” ( never understood that one ), “ No , I don ’ t know how the other boats are doing ,” “ Yes , I ’ d love to hear about the trout you caught ,” “ Oh that ’ s a nice one .” And leave us not omit the Crown Jewell of party boat babble ...

These three anglers had a great time catching halibut on San Francisco Bay aboard the Morning Star .

Photo by GORDON HOUGH .

Now Booking HALIBUT & SALMON TRIPS !

~ Berkeley Marina Departures ~ With Capt . Chad Aho

Experience 6-Pack Fishing At Its Best . Call Today !

• Halibut • Salmon

• Stripers • Rockfish

• Sturgeon • Shark

• Live Bait Potluck

BAY CHARTER BOATS ( 510 ) 850-2285 www . baycharterboats . com

Get to the fishing grounds fast on our 50 ’ charter boat in Moss Landing-Monterey Bay WWW . KAHUNASPORTFISHING . COM

“ Oh you should have been here yesterday !!”

Anyway , after 40 years of the aforementioned silliness and oh so much more , I am retiring .

This was anything but a carefully orchestrated departure . The plan was to sell the Morning Star to a talented young Captain who lives in San Rafael , and work with him until he was comfortable with our passengers , business and boat , and then gradually retire .

So much for “ the best laid plans ”. The Morning Star future was torpedoed by the Loch Lomond harbormaster ( pronounced harborMASTER ) who without so much as an explanation told us to “ Get out and don ’ t come back .” My reward for 40 years of renting a berth between the fuel dock

Another day fishing aboard the Morning Star , skippered by the now retired Captain Gordon Hough .

Photo by GORDON HOUGH . and the levee , and paying twice as much for fuel as their closest competitors . Do I seem bitter ?

To make matters worse , upon our return to Crockett for the winter we discovered our sturgeon fishing home had fallen victim to drugs , despair and disrepair . As a result , we ’ ve been exiled to Vallejo ever since .

As this summer approached , the only doable Potluck fishing marinas available were Berkeley and Emeryville . However , fees , commissions and daily traffic jams made those options less than desirable for a couple old geezers set in their ways .

Which brings us to the final dagger in the Morning Star ’ s heart , to be filed under “ Denial is not a river in Egypt ;” The Morning Star crew is older than dirt ! So henceforth , the Morning Star shall be named Sea Spirit and the new owners are doing Whale Watching and Nature Trips in Santa Cruz .

If you ’ re curious about the difference , a Nature Trip is a Whale Watching trip that didn ’ t spot any whales ...

Don ’ t you think Morning Star is a better name for a boat than Sea Spirit ?

I may be biased . My Mom chose the name Morning Star .

I was going to call my first charter boat “ Bounty ” ( to honor the famous paper towels ) but my Mom always liked the name of the salmon boat I deck handed on as a boy so many , many years ago .

As for Mike Shimel aka Deck Dog , Deck Zombie , Deck Princess , Deck Parolee , Deck

Cross Dresser , Deck

Sept . 1-15 , 2017

33

FREEDOM 192 GULFSTREAM 232

Prima Donna , Deck Ballerina etc . etc .. who has endured 30 + years of relentless insults with a smile ( well , not sure about the smile , but at least he never beat me up ), the Deck Kamikaze has purchased the fastest , scariest looking motorcycle you can buy without a pilot ’ s license , and is off to explore the lower 48 .

Sort of an AARP version of that old Peter Fonda movie Easy Rider .

Any margin of success we ’ ve enjoyed over the years was due far more to Mike ’ s tireless efforts on the deck than mine sitting in the wheelhouse dreaming up ways to insult him .

In fact , I ’ d like to ditch my sophomoric behavior for once and add a personal farewell note from the heart to my best friend Mike Shimel . Before you embark on your cross country

3X MUSTAD HOOK

REAL FISH IMAGE PRINT

WELDED RING

FOR MORE INFO VISIT : or call :

WIRED THROUGH RIGGING

This woman holds up a halibut that she landed in San Francisco Bay aboard the Morning Star .

Photo by GORDON HOUGH .

adventure my friend , take this happy thought with you ;

It only takes a minute to fill out that organ donor card ...

Well , that ’ s about it . We hope you had some fun on the Morning Star , and the Deck Retiree and I would sincerely like to thank you for allowing us to play through life for all these 40 years . And what could be better than that ? Good fishing ... I mean ... Aloha , Gordon

Hough

HEAVY DUTY SPLIT RING

CHIP & PEEL RESISTANT UV COATED

WWW . AHIUSA . COM 1-866-264-1562

follow us

3520 3619